The Wednesday HOT TAKE

January 22... technically, it's the 23rd

Better late than never!

Ten HOT Nuggets

10 | A remarkable recovery

Water levels in Gatún Lake have made a remarkable recovery in recent months (thank you, La Niña) and now sit at multi-year highs for this point in the dry season:

Water levels are currently high enough that as many as 38 vessels can pass through the Canal each day. That is up from a mere 20 boats per day at this time last year.

Last week, the increased water levels were obvious while transiting the last lock before entering the lake.

Lake water was actually spilling over the edge of the gates once the chamber was filled:

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9 | Row, row, row your boat

Size matters.

The original 1914 locks accommodate Panamax vessels, while the Neopanamax locks (completed in 2016) can accommodate much larger ships.

Great visual illustrating annual Panama Canal transits by vessel type:

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8 | The American Canal

More than 70% of cargo transiting the Panama Canal each year either originated in or is destined for the United States, dwarfing all other nations.

In fact, annual U.S. tonnages are more than shipments to and from China, Japan, Korea, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador combined (the next 7 largest countries).

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7 | Going with the flow

The Panama Canal sees an estimated 6% of global maritime traffic (that is 1 in every ~17 ships on the ocean) passing through its locks each year.

The directional flow of cargo through its locks fascinating!